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Tuition and Fee Rates for FY2011 Approved by UHS RegentsAverage UH Undergraduate Will Pay $138 More a Semester

February 16, 2010-Houston-

The University of Houston System Board of Regents has approved tuition and fee rates for fiscal year 2011.

Increases in the new undergraduate rates at its four public universities range from $84 to $138 per semester. They will go into effect for the fall semester 2010.

At the University of Houston, where tuition and fee rates were raised 3.95 percent, an in-state undergraduate student taking 12 credit hours will pay approximately $138 more per semester.

At UH-Clear Lake, which saw a 4.5 percent rise, a comparable student will pay an additional $112.

At UH-Downtown, rates were increased 5.1 percent, costing $113 more.

At UH-Victoria, the increase was 3.8 percent, costing $84 more.

"These rates were approved by the regents only after the staff held a series of open meetings about tuition with our students," said Board Chairman Welcome W. Wilson Sr. "We are all working hard to reduce expenses in spite of ever-rising costs without compromising a quality education for our students."

The University of Houston will raise the qualifying ceiling for its "Cougar Promise" program to $45,000 (from $40,000). The program pays tuition and fees for up to four years for in-state freshmen from families making $45,000 annually or less. The Cougar Promise policy joins other cost-cutting incentives at UH such as the "Cougar Graduation Pledge," which offers up to $3,000 in tuition credit for eligible students making steady progress toward earning their degrees as well as a policy of discounting summer courses by 5 percent.

In addition, 20 percent of the money generated by the rise in resident tuition and fees will be spent on increased financial aid at the four UHS institutions.

The UH System tuition and fee rates approved by the regents were developed at each of the four UHS universities based on requests from academic and administrative divisions along with discussions and public forums involving students, faculty and staff members. Recommendations were then approved by each university's president before being forwarded to the Board of Regents for final approval.

The UH System rate increase follows similar action by University of Texas-Austin, which approved a 3.95 percent increase in its tuition and fee rate for FY2011.

The University of Houston System is the state's only metropolitan higher education system, encompassing four universities and two multi-institution teaching centers. The universities are the University of Houston, a nationally recognized doctoral degree-granting, comprehensive research university; the University of Houston-Downtown, a four-year undergraduate university beginning limited expansion into graduate programs; and the University of Houston-Clear Lake and the University of Houston-Victoria, both upper division and master's-level institutions. The centers are the UH System at Sugar Land in Fort Bend and the UH System at Cinco Ranch. In addition, the UH System includes KUHF-FM, Houston's National Public Radio and classical radio station, and KUHT-TV, the nation's first educational television station.